> > apt doesn't use /var/lib/dpkg/available. > > Are you _sure_? Well, maybe apt doesn't, but apt runs dpkg, which does. > > I'll try that all later, I can't reboot that machine right now. I should say, apt doesn't update /var/lib/dpkg/available. It keeps its own lists in /var/lib/apt. dpkg doesn't really use available, cause with dpkg you either called it by hand to install a .deb or it was called from a frontend like apt or dselect. All /var/lib/dpkg/available does is provide a list of available packages to dselect. /var/lib/dpkg/status is the file that tells you the state of the installed packages. To test this, I moved /var/lib/dpkg/available /var/lib/dpkg/available.test and then ran dselect, selected update, and check the contents of the newly created /var/lib/dpkg/available. No errors, nada. Even adked #debian on irc.debian.org for you. If status is nuked, you have troubles, but they can be fixed with some work. > I'll try that all later, I can't reboot that machine right now. Where does rebooting factor in? This is Linux man! :) /etc/init.d/whatever restart Andrew S. Zbikowski | http://www.ringworld.org "We can learn much more from wise words, little from wisecracks and less from wise guys." --William Arthur Ward